


In Defiance of Fate

by GhostOfTasslehoff, ZombieJesus



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alien Biology, Cloud joins Sephiroth, FF7R Week 2020, Hojo’s gory end, M/M, Puppet Cloud Strife, Sefikura, Smut, Tentacle Sex, bad end or good end you decide, dark!Cloud - Freeform, safer sephiroth, transformations, what would Jenova!Cloud look like?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:28:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25157755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostOfTasslehoff/pseuds/GhostOfTasslehoff, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieJesus/pseuds/ZombieJesus
Summary: Cloud has led his friends to Crater and feels Sephiroth’s pull to give him the Black Materia. However, Cloud receives just as much, or even more, than is given.
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 19
Kudos: 192





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an imagined FF7 Remake scene (hasn’t happened yet in that canon) but blends scenes from the OG game. Written for #FF7R Week 2020 on tumblr.

Every step was agony as Cloud approached Red, his skull pounding like fists were beating down on him without letting up. His fingers closed around the dark purple orb, and the pain disappeared, allowing him a moment of horrified lucidity. _Oh no…_ He _knew_ how this went. Any moment now, his will would be bent to another’s again. He could _feel_ Sephiroth calling to him, somewhere far above their heads, but he couldn’t pinpoint _where_ in the gigantic, echoing cavern. He wanted to fling the Black Materia away or beg someone to _take_ it from him, but as he turned to Tifa, what came out instead was a strained, “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Tifa’s eyes widened, confusion plain on her face. “Cloud, what do you-”

“I can’t…” Cloud’s breathing sped up as he looked around at the others, friend and foe alike, all staring. He could feel the creeping fingers of _not-him_ crawling over his skin and taking hold again at the edges of his mind. He recognized it now as _Sephiroth_ and he _knew_ he wouldn’t be able to stop it. “I- I can’t- _fight_ it. Tifa… I’m sorry. Please believe me, I’m _not-_ ”

“This is perfect!” Hojo’s shrill voice and peals of laughter echoed through the cave. This was it! His Reunion theory was being proven right in front of his eyes, although not in the way he expected. “My theory was correct after all!” He smiled smugly and stalked closer to Cloud, observing the distant look in the man’s mako-infused eyes. Why hadn’t he noticed it before? This wasn’t just _any_ experiment. “Yes, I knew you were one of mine, but...” He’d thought so during the lab break-in as well, but something was off. “What was your _number?_ Tell me!” He circled Cloud, looking for the tell-tale tattoo, but saw nothing.

Cloud’s eye twitched, his expression pulling momentarily into a snarl before it smoothed out again, and he went still. _Was that me, or HIM?_ A memory fragment of Hojo’s disdainful voice declaring _‘failure’_ swirled in his head like an echo, each one almost feeling like a physical blow. His whisper came out harshly, “I don’t _have_ a number.”

“That’s right! You’re one of my failed experiments!” Hojo leaned away from Cloud and turned on his heel to pace a few steps away, clucking his tongue as his thought. “To think a failure would have been the only one who made it here. Almost preposterous.”

Wincing, Cloud nearly doubled over in pain and clutched at his head. _I’m NOT a failure._ He begged through gritted teeth, “Professor… give me a number?” _Give me something to belong to. Tell me who I AM._ “ _Please?_ ”

Hojo scoffed, “A little too late for _that_. Just because you managed to be pulled along on a string doesn’t mean that you’re still not a _failure_.”

_Failure._ Cloud’s face screwed up in anger, struggling to keep himself together. _Why do I ALWAYS fail at EVERYTHING I try to do? Sephiroth should have killed YOU when he killed the President._ To his surprise, the moment he thought that, he felt the pain start to leak away. Time seemed to slow down as his hand fell to his side, fingers clutched gently around the materia, and he dreamily raised his head to look upwards. His body felt strangely weightless; he didn’t notice when his boots left the cavern floor, only dimly registering Tifa’s surprised exclamation as he watched the mass of roots that seemed to make up the roof of the cave growing larger.

Red watched Cloud ascend, confused, and then growled at Hojo, “What are you talking about?” He now recalled Hojo saying something similar to Cloud when they’d stormed his lab looking for Aerith, but hadn’t understood and there’d been no time to ask. 

“Hmm?” Hojo had been transfixed as Cloud rose to the cave’s ceiling, but lost sight of him in the tangle of roots. He waved his hand and said, “Oh. He’s a Sephiroth clone I created after the real Sephiroth died five years ago. Born in a test tube in my lab, the child of mako, Sephiroth’s cells, and my genius, of course.” 

Hearing Hojo describe what he had done so _coldly_ made Cloud shiver in his hidden perch, rocking slightly as he hugged his knees tightly to his chest. Oh, he had picked up enough fragments over their travels that he had at least _loosely_ pieced together what had happened to him, but now he wasn’t even sure if _that_ was accurate. “Am I even _real?_ ” he whispered, disquieted by the thought that he might be nothing more than a _science_ experiment. _Are ANY of my memories real?_ Not wanting to dwell too much on it, Cloud took a shaky breath and pushed himself to stand, looking around him helplessly. There was no discernible path through the tangled root system, and still no clear sense of where to find Sephiroth, except for _deeper_ into the roots. So deeper he went.

Hojo walked around the cave, gazing up and trying to see where Cloud had disappeared to. “Sephiroth was my penultimate triumph, but....” He grumbled quieter, “...we lost him. But I still had Jenova, his ‘mother.’ Until recently.” He sighed wistfully, hands clasped behind his back. “I’ve...dismembered her over the years, an organ here, some cells there, to use in my experiments. Quite a few clones came of it, none that were as impressive as Sephiroth, unfortunately. But my Reunion theory was that all parts of Jenova would seek to reunite eventually. Every clone with her cells would return to the source.” He stopped pacing and smiled, “To her.” 

Tifa stared at Hojo in horror, trying to reconcile the fact that the Cloud she’d grown up with was a _clone_ of the man that had destroyed their hometown. “Then...Jenova’s here?!”

“Yes, she must be nearby. I had been storing her body in my lab but Sephiroth stole her away when he killed President Shinra.” Hojo fiddled with his spectacles and cast Rufus a vaguely sympathetic look when the man huffed, but it was clearly for show. “Yes, terrible thing, that.” He squinted at the roots, thinking they looked more _alien_ than organic. “In any event, Sephiroth must have brought her here, to Crater. And Cloud brought us here, following her.”

_No, I followed Sephiroth, you dumbass._ Cloud’s jaw clenched at the man’s presumption; at least that was one thing he _could_ be sure of. He determinedly wiggled through the gaps in the roots, wishing he could just block Hojo’s echoing words out of his mind. _All the time Sephiroth spent stoking my anger, making it impossible for me to think of anything but him. Why would I care about JENOVA?_ Sephiroth’s presence in his mind was growing stronger now, feeling like it was, inexplicably, all around him. He stopped, disoriented, and looked around at the roots, feeling almost like they were slowly closing in on him. Before, Sephiroth had always deliberately appeared to him, leading him _exactly_ where the man wanted him to be, he was sure now. _Sephiroth was the one who told me about Reunion. Told me… about Jenova, even. But he didn’t tell me how to find him NOW._

Cloud lifted his gaze, a lost look in his eyes, and took a steadying breath before giving in to the inevitable, calling as loud as he could, “Sephiroth? _Sephiroth!_ I’m here.” He looked down at the dark orb still clutched in his hand, barely discernible in the gloom. “I brought you the Black Materia. Show yourself!”

A familiar voice sounded in Cloud’s mind, _‘Turn around, Cloud. I am here.’_ The crux of the roots parted and a large, luminous crystal began to slowly descend from the ceiling, knocking small boulders to the floor of the cave. The crystal hovered near the ceiling beside Cloud, and encased within was Sephiroth, looking exactly the same as he had five years ago in Nibelheim. 

Cloud turned, his breath catching at the sight of Sephiroth-- the real Sephiroth-- floating inside the crystal as if in a deep sleep. He clutched the Black Materia to his chest between both hands, lips parting in awe as his gaze darted down to the man’s stomach. _No scar…_ Cheeks coloring, he looked back up quickly. “Sephiroth,” he breathed.

“Look!” Hojo pointed to the crystal, grabbing Rufus’ arm and shaking it. “It’s Sephiroth! He’s HERE!” He giggled and became more animated, pacing as he kept up his excited exclamations. “I knew it! I was right!” The walls of the cave were ominously vibrating, sending dust and bits of rock to clatter to the ground which the others dodged. 

  
  


Tifa yelled at Hojo, “Shut up! What are you so happy about?!” She jumped out of the way of a boulder, slightly sorry it hadn’t landed on Hojo. “Cloud has the Black Materia, you idiot! Sephiroth’s going to use it to summon Meteor and kill everyone!”

Red called up, “Cloud, no! Don’t do it!”

_‘Come to me, Cloud.’_

Cloud could _hear_ what everyone was saying, but it all seemed so unimportant as he drifted towards the crystal. He hovered in front of it at face level with Sephiroth, enraptured by the man’s serene expression as he laid one hand against the crystal’s surface. “I’m here,” he whispered, looking down to Sephiroth’s upturned hand. Had it been like that before, or had he just not noticed when Sephiroth moved? Cloud moved with dream-like slowness, pushing his clenched fist against the crystal and gasping softly when it just passed right through. He shivered at the electric tremor that went through him when he pressed the materia into Sephiroth’s palm, unwilling to pull his hand away for a long moment.

Sephiroth’s eyes opened and met Cloud’s gaze while bolts of blue electricity shot from the materia and coursed around his naked body. A hint of a smile graced his lips as his fingers curled around the glowing orb and brushed over Cloud’s. _‘You did it. You succeeded.’_

The tremors in the cave suddenly became more powerful, causing Rufus to cry out, “Agghh! Let’s get out of here!” He dashed towards the mouth of the cave and no one hesitated to flee behind him. 

The scream echoing through the room finally broke Cloud from his trance, and he looked down to see everyone running for safety. All at once, the immediacy of the danger he was in hit him, and the childish smile that had been playing on his lips disappeared, panic gripping him. _‘Wait’,_ he tried to shout, _wanted_ to shout _‘don’t leave me’,_ but the words stuck in his throat. _They just left me here._ He looked back up at Sephiroth, not even bothering to disguise the terror on his face as his lips trembled. _I’m going to die here._

Sephiroth paused a beat, staring hard at Cloud before making a decision. _‘You will not die.’_ A dozen thick, translucent tentacles shot from his body and coiled around Cloud, yanking him into the safety of the crystal just as a geyser of the Lifestream shot through the cave’s roof.

“Shit!” Cloud gasped in shock, shivering and staring out the side of the crystal walls as they were buffeted along by the Lifestream. He didn’t dare look up at Sephiroth, his body tense. If the man was _lying_ (and after everything that had happened, he didn’t know if he could trust his own _mind_ anymore, let alone another person), his only hope was that Sephiroth would end it quickly, that he wouldn’t suffer any more than necessary. Only when the motion of their little cocoon of safety evened out did Cloud realize that Sephiroth… wasn’t making any moves on him at _all._ He turned his gaze forward, blushing hard as he realized two things right away. The first was that all of his clothes had apparently dissolved the moment he’d been tugged into the crystal. _So THAT’S why he’s naked, huh?_ The second… If he hadn’t been so small compared to Sephiroth, they would have been pressed _indecently_ close together.

Swallowing hard, Cloud made himself look up into Sephiroth’s eyes, his fingers curling against the man’s chest. “You… saved me,” he whispered, brow furrowing in confusion.

“It would have been a poor reward to let you die, after what you’d brought to me.” Sephiroth’s slitted green eyes never left Cloud’s, and although the crystal itself was swept into the Lifestream, they remained perfectly stable inside. “I knew you’d come, my dearest puppet.” Instead of mocking or cruel, the words were said fondly and with certainty, like he’d never doubted Cloud's ability to do the near-impossible task.

That didn’t diminish Cloud’s confusion. Shaking his head slowly, he searched Sephiroth’s gaze, trying to ignore the way his heart pounded from their close proximity as he whispered, “But… you _made_ me do it, Sephiroth.” _And made me betray my friends again._

Sephiroth laughed silently, causing the tentacles to slightly tighten their grip on Cloud. “Not entirely. I couldn’t have forced you to do something that a part of your self, however buried, didn’t want to do.” He released the Black Materia and it hovered between them, arcing small bursts of lightning against them both. He lifted a finger to trace down Cloud’s cheek, “I merely spoke to _that_ part of you, encouraged it, and silenced the rest.”

Cloud stared at him for a moment longer, twitching at the little shocks before quickly getting used to them. He lowered his gaze, staring unseeingly at Sephiroth’s chest until his vision began to blur with silent tears. _They left me here alone._ He had tried so _hard_ to be better, hadn’t he? Stopped pushing people away, opened up, been _vulnerable_. And in the end, it hadn’t _mattered._ For whatever reason, they had still just _left_ him, just like everyone _else_ he had ever cared about had abandoned him. He let out a shaky breath and leaned his forehead against Sephiroth’s chest, saying in a small, broken voice, “My friends didn’t even _try_ to save me.” _Maybe I DID do this to myself._

Sephiroth’s tentacles loosened slightly, moving over Cloud’s skin to caress it. “I know only too well what that feels like.” No one had ever saved _him_ either-- not from the moment of his cursed conception. His hand went to Cloud’s hair, stroking through it gently and relishing the feeling of a warm body against him after five long years of isolation. “Your place is not with them.” _Humans who drain and plague this world._ “It’s with me.” He lifted Cloud’s chin to look at him, and spoke soft and soothing, “I could have picked any of those who bore the Jenova cells, but I wanted it to be _you_ , Cloud. Stay with me, and I’ll never leave you alone again.”

Cloud let his eyes fall almost completely closed and sighed as Sephiroth’s words sank in. He felt _guilty_ being on the receiving end of Sephiroth’s kindness. He didn’t _want_ these soft touches and comforting words. _Except I want them more than anything. I just don’t deserve them after rejecting you once._ Sniffling, he let out a wet, bitter laugh before whispering, “Why do you want a _failure?_ ” 

“Mmm, you’re no failure, Cloud. And you’re _not_ my clone. You have my cells, but you are your own person.” Sephiroth’s face was cast in a soft blue glow, as the only light was from the Lifestream and the still-pulsing Black Materia. “Hojo lied to you. Hojo lied to us _both_.”

Cloud looked up to meet Sephiroth’s eyes, his vision blurring even more as he listened. He _knew_ Hojo was a liar and an asshole, but it didn’t make it hurt any less to be repeatedly called _failure_. It especially didn’t make _sense_ to him why his friends were working with Hojo when they _all_ knew what horrors the man had committed, or why none of them had even called out to him before deserting him. _Do they think I’m… more of a monster than Hojo? Because of what’s inside me?_

Sepiroth’s features became a little harder, and fury flickered behind his eyes, imagining a slow, torturous death for his ‘father.’ “No, you never were a failure, but what either of us _are_ is something Hojo will never understand.” His hand moved to the back of Cloud’s neck, tracing lightly over the soft skin. “We’re the same, and alone on Gaia because of it.” 

Cloud’s expression crumpled, hardly able to believe that _Sephiroth_ was the only one who came to his defense. “We _are?_ ” he asked, voice choked as he reached up with one hand to tentatively cradle Sephiroth’s cheek.

Sephiroth searched Cloud’s face, tried to reach out and understand his mind and desires. “I can show you what you’re _meant_ to be, if you join me.” 

Cloud’s fingers curled gently against the man’s skin in a subconsciously comforting manner. “D’you-” His lips trembled, choking back a quiet sob before bursting out, “Do you _really_ mean that?”

Sephiroth blinked and nodded slowly, leaning his face into Cloud’s hand. “Is that so hard to believe? I’m more than the mistakes I’ve made.” He resisted the urge to pull Cloud into his arms completely, wanting _this_ decision to be free of his influence. The destiny set out before him might still look like another long, terrible mistake to Cloud, but it was beautiful clarity to Sephiroth. _He will come to see it too._ “I want you there beside me when the heavens fall. _Nothing_ will harm you, if you are with me.”

Cloud exhaled shakily and reached up to frame Sephiroth’s face with both hands, his vision clearing as he studied those beautiful features for a moment. _Why the hell did I say NO before?_ He didn’t say a word, just pulled Sephiroth’s face down towards him as he leaned up, their mouths meeting in the middle. It felt so _right_ to him that he nearly sobbed, shifting to press himself against Sephiroth as his hands slid along the man’s jaw, wanting to be as close as _possible._

Sephiroth let out a muffled sigh of relief and happiness into the kiss, immediately embracing Cloud and lifting him with his tentacles so the kiss was easier. He felt no deception from Cloud, only a mirrored relief and attraction, the indescribable feeling of finding what you’d always been missing. His hands trailed down Cloud’s back and kneaded his ass as the kiss became more passionate. He finally broke away to smile, pupils wide and black, and panted out, “I take it that’s a _yes_.” Unconsciously, his tentacles were roaming over Cloud’s skin excitedly, tentatively, like roving fingers trying to see what they could get away with. Brushing over the man’s nipples, down the cleft of his ass, coiling and writhing up Cloud’s legs and around his thighs, just shy of taking _too_ many liberties. 

Cloud let out a disappointed little moan when Sephiroth broke the kiss, wanting to _pout_ but absolutely unable to hide the happiness dancing in his eyes. He squirmed in Sephiroth’s grip, wrapping his legs tightly around Sephiroth’s waist before answering laughingly, “ _Yes_.” One of the tentacles slid into his ass crack again, and Cloud gasped, arching back into the touch with a moan of, “And _please_ do that more, that feels _really_ good,” before diving in to kiss him again. He hadn’t been expecting to get groped by _tentacles,_ but then again, all things considered, he hadn’t expected _any_ of what had happened today. This time _he_ broke the kiss, his own (sadly only _two_ ) hands roaming over as much of Sephiroth’s body as he could reach as he asked in a breathless voice, “Will you show me _everything?_ Please, Sephiroth?”

Sephiroth panted against Cloud’s neck, “Of _course_ I will.” _I’ve been waiting to show you for so long_. His eyes closed, head falling back as he absorbed the last of the magic needed to summon Meteor, then leveled his gaze with Cloud’s again and slowly pressed the Black Materia into the man’s chest. There was no pain, no blood-- it sunk in smoothly like a pebble into water, radiating power and magic through Cloud’s body along the lines of his veins. “The first of many gifts I have for you.”

Cloud’s eyes went wide, arching in Sephiroth’s arms with a loud gasp as new sensations coursed through him. His entire body hummed with an awareness he hadn’t realized any human being could be _capable_ of, enhanced or not. _But then, we aren’t fully human._ But he had never felt so _alive_ in his life. His eyes glittered as he turned his gaze back to Sephiroth’s, breathing heavily as he smiled up at him, already leaning in eagerly with a reverent _‘thank you, Sephiroth’_.

As they kissed again, Sephiroth moved them both out of the crystal and into the Lifestream itself, holding Cloud closely lest he be swept away and lost. _‘Hold tightly to me. I won’t leave you alone.’_ His tentacles were braver now, teasing Cloud’s entrance before working inside, another one wrapping around his cock and slickly stroking.

_‘You… saved my life, Sephiroth. I trust you not to let me be lost.’_ Cloud could feel tears on his cheeks again as he clutched tightly to Sephiroth, moaning into the kiss and accepting the tentacles without hesitation as his body rocked into the dual stimulation. Being in the Lifestream wasn’t anything like he had thought it would be. Instead of being a painful, cold way to die, it felt _warm._ Electric… no, _pulsing._ Like a giant heartbeat, he realized.

_‘You must change, but not how Hojo changed you. This will be beautiful, powerful, and I will be here with you.’_ Sephiroth needed to know that Cloud accepted what he would become, a child of Jenova, both alien and human as Sephiroth was. This was the only way to survive the Meteor that would destroy all human life. 

Breaking the kiss, Cloud pulled back to look at Sephiroth in wonder, face flushed and lips parted. “How do we change?” he whispered, marveling over how it felt like his _own_ heartbeat, his breathing, seemed to be adjusting to the ebb and flow of the energy surrounding them. It was a strange and heady rush. He let his head fall back with a groan, body undulating against Sephiroth’s and reaching down with one hand to squeeze the man’s ass. _‘Does it just HAPPEN, or is it something we control?’_

The tentacles that had been working Cloud open retreated, positioning him just above Sephiroth. “ _I_ will be the usher of your becoming, your guide. Trust in me.” Sephiroth cupped Cloud’s cheek as his enormous black wing unfolded, haloed rings of gold clicking together into intricate pieces around his increasingly celestial form. “There is nothing to fear.” He shuddered as the tentacles brought Cloud down on his cock and coiled tightly around them both to hold Cloud close, permitting only the movement of hips. 

His eyes went completely black as he began to move inside Cloud, and nothing had ever felt more _right_ than this moment. It was clear from the beatific adoration on Cloud’s face that _he_ felt the same. Neither of them would ever be alone again. He gasped as the Lifestream began to flow _into_ them both, their bodies absorbing the power that was always their due, and enhanced by the blessing of their unnatural mother. He kissed Cloud desperately, muffling Cloud’s moans and thrusting into the man as the tentacles roamed and stroked over Cloud’s body. _‘Jenova is pleased with you.’_ He grabbed Cloud’s hand and hooked it around his wing, starting to feel Cloud’s body responding to the power of this place. _‘Fulfill your potential!’_ He thrust faster and harder until it seemed almost like they were one, finally reaching his peak as he heard Cloud’s mind echo _‘yes!’_

Cloud tore his mouth from Sephiroth’s with a loud cry, eyes wide and unseeing as his head fell back in ecstasy. His body jerked in Sephiroth’s arms, his orgasm washing over him in waves and his muscles clenching around the man as he felt himself _filled,_ not only physically, but with a strength and power that stole his breath away and expanded his awareness. He could feel and _see_ everything happening inside his body, right down to the smallest atom, watching in awe as the change began.

Black tendrils shot out from Cloud’s chest where the Black Materia resided, spreading over paling, porcelain skin like inky veins, or tiny cracks in a doll’s face. His fingers convulsed, flexing in Sephiroth’s wing before falling to his side as his nails lengthened, sharpened, becoming talon-like, and he raised his head to beam at Sephiroth. His eyes glowed brightly, a more saturated hue of blue-and-mako-green than they had been, and his teeth were unnaturally sharp. Finally, as Cloud gasped and shuddered through the last of his orgasm, a gigantic, leathery black wing burst from the left side of his back, tipped with a sharp, metallic-looking claw. Nearly simultaneously, his right arm lengthened and reformed itself into a jagged, twisted black version of his Buster Sword, wickedly sharp with a tentacle pattern impressed upon the blade… and three slots that _all_ appeared to be filled with the dull glint of the Black Materia.

Sephiroth knotted his fingers in Cloud’s hair and tilted the man’s head back, smiling in delight. “Ahh, but you are so beautiful.” He kissed that dangerous mouth that he knew would never cut _him_ , not now or ever, and stroked a hand along the fledgling wing. _‘More beautiful than I even imagined.’_

Cloud melted into Sephiroth’s arms, kissing the man back fiercely and unable to keep his awed gratitude and elation to himself. He was _certain_ it was radiating off of him as he reached up to stroke the tips of his talons through Sephiroth’s feathers reverently. _‘And you have always been the most beautiful being I have ever laid eyes on.’_ He tilted his head into the kiss, licking into Sephiroth’s mouth teasingly before retracting his tongue.

Pulling back, Sephiroth looked into Cloud’s bright eyes before lifting them both up and out of the Lifestream, through the geyser and into the sky high above Gaia. They hovered there, Sephiroth slowly, carefully removing his tentacles to let Cloud fly on his own. His eyes were drawn up to the fiery sky, reflecting the slow descent of Meteor. “How does it feel, Cloud? To be a god?” He grasped for Cloud’s taloned hand and interlaced their fingers, turning slowly to look at the man with a satisfied expression. 

  
Cloud gasped as they emerged, looking all around them before his eyes, too, were drawn to Meteor, reflecting on everything that had led him _here_ for just a moment. Once upon a time, the vision Sephiroth had shown him of Gaia’s doom had terrified him. But now, all he felt was a sense of finally being where he belonged. He looked down slowly at their joined hands and squeezed affectionately before raising his gaze to Sephiroth. His voice was soft, distorted, sounding like the rasping of metal on metal. “How does it feel?” He thought for a moment, then smiled slowly, just the tips of sharp teeth showing. “It feels… just _right._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title and some of the imagery in the story were inspired by a lovely piece of art by @cloudcloudcloud on Twitter
> 
> There may be an epilogue where Hojo gets what's coming to him, let us know if you'd like to see it <.<


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hojo gets what’s coming to him.

“How long?” Cloud’s distorted voice was low, _eager,_ as he released Sephiroth’s hand, talons trailing lightly up Sephiroth’s skin until he could wrap his arm around his shoulders. _Home._ His eyes never left Sephiroth’s as he drew close, pressing himself to his lover. “How long do we have until Meteor hits?”

“Soon.” Sephiroth smiled contentedly, wrapping his arms around Cloud and bringing them up above the cloud line so they could get a better view. “Perhaps less than an hour even.” His bright emerald eyes raised to the fire in the sky, which appeared to be only slowly getting closer due to how massive it was.

Cloud tilted his head, brow furrowing and a slight pout on his lips as he absorbed that information. “So little _time,_ ” he whispered, sighing and wrapping his strong legs around Sephiroth’s waist, enjoying the feeling of being _safe_ in Sephiroth’s embrace.

“No, _we_ have all the time in the universe. Don’t worry. When it falls, you won’t be in any danger.” Sephiroth looked back to Cloud and wrapped a protective wing around him.

Nuzzling into Sephiroth’s neck, Cloud smiled, his tone turning deadly, “I’m not worried about _that._ Just wishing I had more time to give Hojo the end he _deserves._ ” He raised his eyes back to Sephiroth’s, a glint of wicked mischief in them as he asked hopefully, “Oh _please,_ can’t we kill him?”

Sephiroth smirked as his eyes glowed in excitement and approval at the idea. “Hmmm. So you crave vengeance on a more _personal_ level.” He laughed quietly and nodded, because while he would never truly be able to settle the score of what Hojo had done to him, watching Cloud rip the man apart would be delicious. “Anything you want.” He lifted Cloud to kiss him, then added in a serious whisper, “As long as you make him _suffer_.”

Cloud’s breath caught, his eyes widening in delight before he started to laugh. “With _pleasure,_ ” he murmured, kissing Sephiroth again more thoroughly.

Sephiroth turned his gaze towards the horizon and said, “Use your changed eyes to see them, Cloud. Distance is no obstacle to you anymore.”

Cloud was already panting in anticipation as he obeyed, scanning the skies for the airship in every direction until he spotted it. Sucking in a sharp breath, his eyes narrowed, gleaming brightly as he pointed. “There.” _Are they ALL on it?_ He had no sooner thought it than his vision blurred, disorienting him for a moment. When it cleared, sure enough, he could see all of his so-called ‘friends’ milling about on the deck, while Hojo paced around, seemingly ranting and gesturing to the sky. Cloud tensed, a growl escaping him. “They’re _all_ there.”

Sephiroth laughed into the wind as he grabbed Cloud and shot towards the airship, murmuring to the man, “Perhaps we should _surprise_ them with the new you. I’ll stay out of sight until you call for me.” He reached down to squeeze Cloud’s ass, soaring out of the way as Emerald Weapon barreled across their path. “I’ll be watching though, in the shadows.”

Cloud gasped in mock surprise, glancing up at Sephiroth with a smirk before focusing on transforming into how he _used_ to look. “I’ve got some things to say to them first.” As the airship began to grow larger in his vision, he looked down to watch as his former form restored itself, right down to the clothes. No point in spoiling the surprise _too_ quickly. “Think they’ll be scared when they see?”

“Let’s hope so.” Sephiroth gave Cloud’s neck a soft bite before launching him towards the deck of the ship, knowing that it wouldn’t hurt Cloud in the slightest. Whether or not Cloud’s _appearance_ changed, the body itself was remade forever and far, far stronger than any human. _‘Have fun, love.’_ He became a thin mist and swirled downwards into the shadows to watch, invisible to the eyes of the others. 

Cloud let out a yelp of shock as he hit the deck, instinctively falling into a protective roll before coming to a stop at someone’s feet. _‘Okay, THAT was fun, love. Throw me around any time.’_ He lowered his arms slowly, his heart pounding from the adrenaline and exhilaration as he looked up into Barret’s shocked face. 

“Whoa!” Barret took a few steps closer as the shock waned. “The merc made it! Everybody thought you were a goner.”

Cloud glanced around as he rolled onto his stomach, making a mental note of where the others were, especially Hojo. He snorted in irritation when he saw that the scientist was over at the _other_ end of the deck at the moment. Red and Vincent hurried towards him, and he looked right at Tifa before he finally pushed himself up, expression hardening into a glare. “Hey guys. I think you might’ve _forgotten_ something back there.”

“Cloud, you made it out of that cave-in?!” Tifa gasped and ran over to Cloud, but hung back guiltily at his words. Was he teasing or not? She sensed something steely in his voice and the last thing she’d seen Cloud do was _give_ the Black Materia to Sephiroth. Suspicion crept into her voice, “Wait...how did you just fall out of the sky?”

Red pawed forward as well, but kept a little more distance. “Did you really give that materia to Sephiroth? Why would you do that?”

“Oh oh!” Hojo scuttled forward, back hunched and his arms clasped behind his back. “I have so many _scientific_ questions for you!”

Cloud stared at Tifa for a moment longer, his fists clenching at his sides as he let out a slow exhale. _Of course everyone wants a piece of me now that I’m ‘back’._ He shifted his glare to Hojo. “ _You_ can wait, asshole.” Returning his gaze to Tifa, “Yeah. I made it out. No thanks to any of _you._ ” He took a step towards Tifa, a sharp edge to his voice now, “How could you just _leave_ me there, Tifa? After everything?”

“I…” Tifa grasped for the right words now that she sensed Cloud’s clear feeling of betrayal. “I don’t know! The cave was collapsing and I just ran!” 

Red growled quietly, “What did you expect us to do? Fly up to the ceiling?”

Hojo was watching the exchange with keen interest and he pulled out a notepad. He grinned to himself as he slowly circled Cloud and scrawled down notes. “Yes, yes, no one cares. What we _really_ want to know is what happened up there with Sephiroth, hmmm?”

_No one CARES?!_ Cloud gritted his teeth, huffing out a breath and waiting until Hojo got closer to lash out and smack the notepad from the man’s hands. He grabbed Hojo by the collar and yanked him close, growling in the man’s face, “I _said,_ you can _wait._ ” He could hear the distorted edge creeping into his voice as he flung Hojo away from him with far more strength than he should have possessed.

Hojo shrieked and stumbled across the deck, then groaned as he saw his notepad catch in a draft and sail over the side of the airship. “My NOTES! Precious _research!!!_ ”

Cloud ignored Hojo and continued, his voice grating as it raised, “None of you even _tried._ You were too concerned with saving yourselves. Did I mean _that_ little to you?!”

The others were staring at Cloud, wide-eyed and wary, and slowly stepping away. Tifa held her hands in a placating gesture, speaking to him as if he were a once-tamed animal that had suddenly gone rabid. “Calm down. Nobody _wanted_ to leave you. We just made a split-second decision is all.” She gave Barret a brief, but meaningful, side-ways glance. “Cloud...what happened to your Buster sword?”

Sephiroth heard the very faint sound of Barret’s gun barrel furtively loading, far too faint for a human to discern, and snickered in the shadows. _‘The jig is up. And the fun begins.’_

_‘It is.’_ Even without his newly enhanced senses catching that sound, Cloud would have known what Tifa’s glance meant. “Right.” He grinned widely at Tifa and relaxed his hold on this form, relishing the horrified gasps he heard as he dropped into a low fighting stance and pointed the tip of his sword right at Barret. The Black Materia lodged in his weaponized arm glowed a deep violet, thrumming with dark energy. “What do you think of the upgrade, Tifa? Barret?” His voice rasped as he looked up at Barret, his too-sharp teeth bared in a parody of a smile. “Gonna put me down like a wild animal now?”

Red bared his teeth, growling, “You’re no wild animal. I don’t know _what_ you are. But we’ll put you down if we have to.”

“Oh _relax,_ I’m not here for _you._ ” Cloud’s gaze locked on Hojo as his wing burst from his back, and with a shriek that sounded like tortured metal, he launched himself at the scientist.

“AaaaaaaAAAaaaAA!” Hojo screamed as he was pinned to the deck by the monstrous being that had _once_ been Cloud. “Help! HELP ME YOU IDIOTS!” But the others were too stunned to make a move, trying to figure out what was even happening.

Laughing, Cloud crouched over the man, soaking up the screams like they were fuel for his rage. “No one is going to help _you,_ asshole.” He pressed his sharp talons to the underside of Hojo’s jaw. “ _Nothing_ can save you from me, not after what you did to me. To _Zack._ ” _To Sephiroth._

Hojo’s primal fear warred against his intense curiosity at what had caused the transformation, his terrified gaze darting from slit pupils to blackened veins. “Y-you...you got SEPHIROTH’S cells, d-didn’t you?!” He managed to grin through his fear as another hypothesis of his was confirmed. Slyly, “Cloud Strife, not _quite_ a failure after all.”

Cloud’s gleaming eyes narrowed, and he smirked, nodding slightly. “Oh, I am _not_ a failure.” One of his talons pierced the man’s skin and elicited another yelp from Hojo, and the smell of blood filled Cloud’s senses. “But acknowledging that won’t save you.” He closed his fingers around Hojo’s neck and held the man down by his throat, grinning ferally as he raised his voice. “ _Will_ it, Sephiroth?”

“No.” Sephiroth coalesced into a solid form as he emerged from the shadows, taking his more recognizable human form, for now. He smiled at Cloud as he slowly stepped forward, “It certainly _won’t_.”

“Sephiroth!!” Cries of alarm rang out across the deck, sending everyone running with weapons at the ready.

Hojo was both trembling in Cloud’s grip and gaping between them in awe. He wheezed through the pressure constricting his throat, “N-no!! I made you! MADE BOTH OF YOU!” 

Barret unloaded his machine gun at Sephiroth, but the god merely laughed as each and every bullet passed through him to lodge into the ship behind him. Sephiroth tossed his hair and sighed, “Just stop. It’s _pathetic_.”

Cloud stood and pressed his boot to Hojo’s chest, dragging the tip of his sword across the deck _right_ beside the man’s head.

Sephiroth embraced Cloud from behind and purred loud enough for Hojo to hear, “Speaking of pathetic, I think I’d like to hear him _beg_ for his failure of a life, wouldn’t you, Cloud?”

Cloud exhaled loudly, looking back at Sephiroth with an admiring smile. His voice came out like the whisper of steel on silk, “Yessss, I would like that very. _Very._ Much.” The last word was punctuated with a quick jab of his sword, slicing a shallow cut down Hojo’s neck before leveling the tip at the man’s chest. “Hear that, Hojo? _Beg me._ ”

“YES! Yes yes, if that’s what you want, I’ll--mphth!!” Hojo writhed under Cloud’s boot compressing his chest. He swallowed and wailed, “PLEASE! Please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything, ANYTHING!”

“Stop this!” Tifa’s voice rang out across the deck as she tried to appeal to Cloud. “What does this mean, Cloud? Have you _joined_ Sephiroth?”

Cloud paused and looked back at Tifa from Sephiroth’s embrace, brow furrowing at the interruption. “Yes.” _Can she not see I’m busy?_ “Honestly, I should have done it _sooner._ ”

Tifa gasped and shook her head, “NO! I _know_ you!” She pointed to Sephiroth angrily and said, “And I know _him_. You can’t trust him. Please, Cloud, come back.”

“Too late for that.” Sephiroth smirked and tightened his grip around Cloud possessively as if to say _‘he’s mine now,’_ but kept his eyes on Tifa and the others. “The sky is falling love, time is of the essence.” He kissed Cloud’s neck, laughing silently as Tifa made a face of horrified disgust. He ran a hand up Cloud’s chest and whispered, “Gut him.”

Cloud shivered under Sephiroth’s touch, his face smoothing out to an expressionless mask as he looked up at his lover, and then back at Tifa. His sword arm wavered momentarily, slowly pulling back from Hojo’s chest.

Tifa took a step towards the pair, a flare of hope going through her as she sensed that she might be reaching Cloud after all. Her voice softened as she reached out towards him, “ _Please,_ Cloud, I know you don’t really want this. This isn’t who you-”

Cloud’s expression didn’t change, his gaze still locked on Tifa’s as he lifted his sword slightly and brought the tip down violently into Hojo’s belly, satisfaction twisting inside of him as he heard the man’s scream, _felt_ the soft flesh tear and give way.

Sephiroth’s loud laughter nearly drowned out the screams of both Hojo and Tifa, and he pressed himself against Cloud as he watched the _fountains_ of blood spurting from his so-called father’s body. As his hand slid down Cloud’s weaponized arm, part of him just wanted to yank it himself. But no, he wouldn’t deprive Cloud of this moment, and it was turning him on to watch it. 

Cloud finally lifted his gaze to Sephiroth’s eagerly, nuzzling into his lover’s neck before turning to smile wickedly down at Hojo. He _twisted_ his sword and dragged the blade to the side, meeting little resistance from Hojo’s body as the agonized screams took on a gurgling quality. “ _Die,_ ” he hissed to the man, flicking the excess blood and gore from the tip of his sword.

As Barret and Vincent ran forward, Sephiroth froze them in their tracks with a lifted finger, and called out, “Turn your eyes to the sky and watch your doom approaching!” Every one of their necks was wrenched up to watch the blood-red sky, clouds disintegrating with the heat radiating from the moon-sized Meteor. 

Cloud’s sword reshaped itself back into a hand, and he looked up dreamily, a satisfied expression on his face as he brought his fingers to his mouth to lick some of the blood away. “It’s _beautiful,_ ” he breathed, twisting in Sephiroth’s arms and _laughing_ as he pressed against him. With no regard for any of the others, he kissed Sephiroth, hard and frantic, bloodied fingers tangling in his lover’s hair. _‘How long now, love?’_

  
Sephiroth was still laughing softly into the kiss, relishing the feeling of this small triumph and the greater one that would happen momentarily. He wrapped his arms tightly around Cloud and let his wing unfold, flapping slowly to lift them off the deck. Breaking the kiss, he smiled at Cloud and said, “Seven seconds ‘till the end.” He looked impassively at the humans rendered speechless below, “Not enough time for _you_ , I think,” before they disappeared through time and space, to the Edge of Creation to watch the world burn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all asked for it ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for checking out our fic! ZJ wrote for Seph. Ghost wrote for Cloud.
> 
> Check us out on Tumblr!
> 
> ZJ: [Kiranatrix](https://kiranatrix.tumblr.com/) (FF side blog [avejenova](https://avejenova.tumblr.com/))  
> Ghost: [GhostOfTasslehoff](https://ghostoftasslehoff.tumblr.com/) (FF side blog [makoeyedmerc](https://makoeyedmerc.tumblr.com/))


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